Baseball game board



July 22, 1924. 1,502,619

r M. M. DOOB BASEBALL GAME BOARD Filed Feb. 8. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FINAL 15 SCORE. BY INN\NGS x; g 5 U 0 N *1 WITNESSES INVENTOR My ATTORNEYS M. M. DOOB July 22 1924.

BASEBALL GXME BOARD Filed Feb. 8, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR K N D005 WITNESSES Mfg M A TTORNEYS Patented July 22, 1924.

MORK M'E'NASHA DOOB, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.-

BASEBALL GAME BOARD.

Application filed February a, 1921. Serial in. 443,393.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Mom: M. Doors, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, Far Rockaway, borough of Queens, in the county of.Queens and State of New York, have invented a new. and Improved Baseball Game Board,-

of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to game-boards, and has articular'reference to a game-board for playing the game of base-ball.

An object of the invention resides in the provision of means whereby the act of base running in a base-ball game can be simply and efficiently produced on a game-board.

Another object resides in the provision of means whereby the position and change of osition of the various players one base can e readily and simply exhibited on a gameboard.

A further object resides in the particular construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings. 7

The invention in general comprises a game-board of any well-known type on which a base-ball diamond is laid out and which, in accordance with my invention, is provided with a groove or other aperture in the surface thereoii extendin between the base along the line over whic the runners travel in running from one base to another. In this groove I provide an endless band which may be moved at will and which-is adapted to carry figures representing the various players running around the bases. Means are rovided whereby the figures representing t e runners may be attached to this band in a simple manner and detached therefrom in'-an e ually simple manner. Means are also provided whereby the band may be moved very readily at the will of the operator to any desired position and at any desired speed.

By the provision of this device to the ordinary base-ball game-board a feature is added which enhances the pleasure and attractiveness of this game to a very considerable extent in that the players on the bases can be seen in action and their progress around the bases can be clearly indicated.

The invention is illustrated in the drawings, of which Figure 1 represents a plan view of a baseball game-board embodying my-invention;

Figure 2 is an end view of the box formin the container for the game;

igure 3 is an inverted plan view of a portion ofthe cover of the box; Figure 4 is a plan view of the under sur-' face of the gameboard showing the operatin mechanism for the endless belt or band;

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 55 of Figure 4; and

Fi ure 6 is a sectional view of the belt showing the particular manner in which the figures of the players areattached thereto.

The referred embodiment of my invention as illustrated in the drawings comprises a box or rectangular receptacle l'which is provided with a playing-board-or plate 2 spaced a definite distance above the bottom of the box and just below the top edge thereof. On the major portion of this plate or board a base-ball diamond is laid out in the usual form having the representations for the bases 3, 4, 5 and 6 and with the fielding players positions noted by small apertures or holes 7 disposed in the particular places on the playing surface or plate 2. At the lower left-hand corner of the portion of the board on which the diamond is located are a series of nine holes such as 8 adapted to receive pins connected with the figures representing the players or team at bat. Immediately below the portion of the board on which the diamond is laid out there are disposed aplurality of indicators of any suitable type such as 9 respectively representing at any particular time the number of balls, strikes, outs and runs. These indicators can be of any suitable type, preferably the type comprislng a disk, such as is represented by the numeral 10, having the numbers thereon and operated by a knob 11 to move the numbers by an aperture such as 12 in the casing of the indicator.

Below the series of indicators is arranged a miniature scoreboard such as 13 in which the score of innings is noted in the wellknown and usual manner. Pins such as 14 may be used on which tags such as 15 denoting the score or the name of the team are hung.

On the base-ball diamond laid out on the board or plate 2, the path or general line extending between the bases is the course pursued by the runners in proceeding from one base to another. Along this path I have cut the surface of the board or late 2 in the form of a groove or slot 16. T 's groove which extend across in the manner shown" and are connected both to the main portion of the underside of the game-board and to the central portion 17 above mentioned whereby the central portion is kept in the proper spaced position with respect to the rest of the board. These-braces 18 and 19 can be connected to these portions in any suitable nfanner, such as by screws, which are not shown.

Within this slot or groove 16 I have disposed an endless flexible belt or band 20 which may be made of any suitable material, preferably some penetrable material, such as soft leather, fabric, and the like. In Figures 4 and 5 I have shown more in detail the construction and manner of supporting this belt. Adjacent the apexes of the diamond-shaped central portion 17 of the board and on the underside thereof, I have disposed rotatable pulleys 21 provided with flanges 22. Around these pulleys the belt 20 is adapted to pass, and in this passage rest on the flanges 22. The belt is of such a height that its upper edge is substantially flush with the surface of the game-board or plate 2.

Each of the pulleys 21 is connected to the portion 17 of the board in the following manner, as indicated clearly in Fi re 5: A bolt 23 has a flanged head 24 adapted to be sunk in the upper surface of the board and extends therethrough, and on the inner face of the board is provided with a washer 25 and a nut 26 which can be adjusted to rigidly connect the bolt with the board. The body of each pulley 21 can be slipped over the lower end of the bolt, which may or may not be threaded as shown, and is rotatable thereon. Nuts such as 26 and 27 can be disposed on the lower end of the bolt 23 to properly position the pulley 21 thereon.

In Figures 4 and 5, one of the pulleys 21 is shown provided on its lower face with a bevel gear 28 which is connected thereto in any suitable manner. This bevel gear is adapted to mesh with a similar bevel gear 29 mounted on the end of a shaft 30, which is supported and journaled in suitable brackets 31 and 32, and ,on its outer end is provided with a handle portion 33. By operating this handle, one of the pulleys is positively driven and by friction moves the belt, the position of which is maintained in the groove or slot 16 by passing around the other pulleys which are caused to rotate on their axes. This handle, as shown in Figure 4, extends out of the box 1 at one side thereof and can be very readily attached to the shaft 30 or detached therefrom as desired. 6

In Figure 1 particularly, it will be noted that in those portions of the belt or band 20, especially those portions lying adjacent the base, the band is provided with apertures. As shown in Figure 6, these apertures are provided by forcing or suitably disposing in the band a metallic tube, such as designated by the numeral 34 in Figure 6. These tubes by being forced into the belt are rigidly maintained therein and are adapted to receive pins 35 which at their upper ends are connected to suitable figures, such as 36, representing the players. Instead of using tubes, the bottom portion of each player may be and is provided with a pin 35, which can be stuck into the belt as desired, especially when the belt is made of soft penetrable material as above indicated. It will be noticed in Figure 6 that the rear leg 37 of the player shown is pivoted at 38 to the body of the player so that it can be moved into various positions, such as that shown by dotted lines in Figure 6, and that, therefore, when the figure is in the above manner mounted on the belt and moves around the bases as if running therebetween, the leg 37 can be disposed in the dotted position to give the figure the appearance of running, which tends to make the playing of this'game more realistic.

In playing the game, I use a dial. such as represented by the numeral .39 in Figure 3, and with which a pointer co-operates in a well-known manner. This dial is provided with indications denoting the various kinds of plays which may take place in a ballgame. The pointer is operated in the usual manner by spinning, and when it comes to rest indicates the play to be put into eifect on the board. When a man is at bat, a figure is placed on the belt in this position, and if he makes a second base hit the belt is moved by means of the handle 33 to move the figure of the batter to second base. Of course, other runners on the bases at that time move therewith, and those reaching the home'base are removed, indicating that a run has been scored. It will be noticed in Figure 3 that this dial 39 is placed on the under surface of one of the cover portions, such as 41, for. this game. This makes a convenient arrangement whereby the one board can serve as a cover and as a support for the dial 39.

It will, therefore, be seen that I have provided a simple and eflicient mechanism in connection with a board for playing baseball games, or other games, in which base running is very realistically exhibited, whereby the attractiveness of playing this game is greatly enhanced;

It will, of course, be understood that various minor modifications can be made in this invention when it is embodied in one form or another without departing from the spirit .of the invention.

What I claim is:

A game-board having a base-ball diamond l0 thereon and player figures adapted to be disposed at will about the board, a movable belt on the .board, said belt having sockets at intervals adapted to receive the player figures, said sockets comprising tubes 15 disposed in the belt, and pins on said player figures adapted to be inserted in the sockets.

MORK MENASHA DOOB. 

